Bettye Alexander

Bettye Ruth Pullen Alexander was born September 10, 1931, in New Home, Texas, to Ira Emory Pullen and Georgia Peyton Gallenkamp Pullen. She died in Waco, Texas, on August 29 with all her children present, twelve days before her 93rd birthday. 

When Bettye started school in 1936, birth certificates were not required for enrollment, though children had to have turned six on or before September 1, a date Bettye “knew” was the day she celebrated her birthday. It was not until high school that Bettye learned from her oldest sister, Rema Lou, that her birthday was actually September 10. In her late 80s Bettye found her original birth certificate and was stunned to discover that her birth name was not recorded as Bettye, but “Bettie.” 

Bettye Ruth was the fourth of five children—she had two older sisters (Charlene and Rema Lou), one older brother (Peyton) and a younger brother (Lolan). 

When Bettye’s parents separated in the 1930’s, the family moved to Lometa to be near her grandfather, “Papa.” Money was scarce in the home of a single mother but good management and ingenuity allowed her family a happy existence. Bettye remembered the family sitting together, listening to radio sitcoms like “Fibber McGee and Molly” and playing checkers and tiddlywinks. 

Bettye knew Lloyd Bryon Alexander, her husband of 60 years, as her brother Peyton’s friend, four years her senior. After he graduated, Lloyd joined the army and shipped out to Hawaii, heading for Japan. When the war ended, he returned home to find Peyton’s pretty little sister all grown up. The two married on December 11, 1948; Lloyd’s infatuation never wore off.

Bettye was a loving, accommodating, but no-nonsense mother who taught her children that they were not entitled, but privileged by their capabilities, accountable for their mistakes, and sustained by their faith. Bettye was a committed member of Lometa Church of Christ.

Over the years, Bettye worked as a seamstress, election worker, and commodities manager for the Food and Drug Administration. She was a consistent and steady partner in ranching with her husband. In the 1980's, already a grandmother, Bettye became a U.S. mail carrier, driving a rural route for 19 years. 

Bettye was a prolific handcrafter and seamstress. She sewed all of her daughter's clothes, including her wedding dress. When the grandkids were small, she adorned each garment with her own label: “Creations by Granbe.” She knitted and crocheted constantly, even while watching her televised ballgames. She donated hundreds and hundreds of handmade articles—including swaddling blankets, booties, and crocheted lap afghans to hospitals, churches, nursing homes, and other non-profits. 

As a grandmother, “Granbe” wrote the book on grandparenting for her children and for generations to follow, hosting weenie roasts by the creek and always keeping her cookie jar full. She offered a listening ear and was always ready to play a game—making sure they learned to lose as well as win. Her grandsons (those who were also avid Ranger fans) made a pilgrimage to her ranch each spring to share Opening Day with their grandmother. She kept the whole family busy playing Words with Friends multiple times a day with each one, winning MUCH more often than she lost. 

Bettye loved all things “Ranger baseball” and had a fairly large appetite for the Cowboys and Mavericks, as well. One of her grandsons underlined his idea of a life well-lived: “She saw all of her kids grow up and start their families. She had grandkids and who knows how many great-grandkids? And she saw the Rangers win a World Series. She did pretty good.”

Bettye loved well and she is well-loved. Her family, church families, community, schoolmates, and even her children’s schoolmates love and respect her. More than one condolence has noted simply: “She was a “real lady.” 

Bettye was preceded in death by her husband Lloyd Bryon Alexander, Sr.; both her parents, Ira Emory Pullen and Georgia Peyton Gallenkamp Pullen; three siblings, Rema Lou Weaver, Charlene Burdett, and Peyton Pullen; and her son-in-law Terry Simmons. 

She is survived by her brother Lolan Pullen of Woodland Hills, CA; her sons, Lloyd Bryon Alexander, Jr. and wife Jan; Barry Peyton Alexander and wife Karen, and daughter Karen Simmons, as well as nine grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and many, many lifelong friends. 

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM, Saturday, September 7 at the Lometa Church of Christ, 304 W Main St, Lometa, TX 76853. Lunch will be provided at noon for family and friends.